HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program – Employment & Training

HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) provides a variety of services to those in Indianapolis experiencing homelessness. These services include outreach, housing, case management, veterans assistance, and employment and training. Matt Holland has been a part of HIP’s Employment & Training team for two and a half years. We sat down with Matt to learn more about the Employment & Training team.

What does the Employment & Training team do?Our team does employment readiness and work history assessments to determine if a client is a good fit for our employment skills workshop. We look at barriers to employment, what has caused past job’s or career’s to end, as well as education gained and further education or training desired by each individual. Once they have completed our employment skills workshop, they graduate to our job search program where they get one-on-one job search support and job coaching. We help connect them with interview clothing and haircuts, as well as soft essential skills that complete their transformation into excellent candidates for their goal position. As we transition into our client’s gaining employment, we then support them while on the job for up to 6 months to ensure that they can navigate their work environment and the stresses that come with a part-time or full-time job.

What made you want to work for HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program?My wife worked for a short time partially with HIP and partially with Adult and Child, where they trained clients with mental health and homelessness barriers to enter the hospitality industry. I volunteered to do some mock interviews and speak to several of their classes. I connected to those client’s hearts and enjoyed that time more than anything else. I had decided in 2012 to take my career a different route and HIP had a Job Development position open. I applied and was lucky enough to be offered the position.

What is the most satisfying part of your job?Bar none, the opportunity to see a client walk through our doors after they have been offered and accepted a job.

To learn more about HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program, please click here. If you would like to make a donation to HIP, please visit www.indyhealthnet.org/Donate.